Lemon Tree

2008 1h 46m HE

👍

7.0

SOLID

🔥

91%

CERTIFIED FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.3

IMDB

★7.0TMDB · 128🍅91%Rotten Tomatoes●74Metacritic★7.3IMDB · 6,927

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Salma Zidane, a widow, lives simply from her grove of lemon trees in the West Bank's occupied territory. The Israeli defence minister and his wife move next door, forcing the Secret Service to order the trees' removal for security. The stoic Salma seeks assistance from the Palestinian Authority, Israeli army, and a young attorney, Ziad Daud, who takes the case. In this allegory, does David stand a chance against Goliath?

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Hiam Abbass
Selma Zidane
Tarik Kopty
Abu Hussam
Ali Suliman
Ziad Daud
Doron Tavory
Defense Minister Israel Navon
Rona Lipaz-Michael
Mira Navon
Amos Lavi
Commander Jacob
Amnon Wolf
Leibowitz
Liron Baranes
Gilad

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Eran Riklis
Writers: Suha Arraf, Eran Riklis
Languages: Arabic, English, Hebrew
Countries: France, Germany, Israel

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 18 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Arabic, English, Hebrew.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Israel.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Eran Riklis, shot by Rainer Klausmann. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Habib Shadah. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Tova Ascher shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Hiam Abbass and Tarik Kopty and Ali Suliman carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1172963 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Eran Riklis directs. Rainer Klausmann behind the camera. Habib Shadah scores. Tova Ascher cuts. Produced in France, Germany, Israel. Dialogue in Arabic, English, Hebrew.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 18 years ago.
2Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Arabic, English, Hebrew.
3International production across 3 countries: France, Germany, Israel.
4Directed by Eran Riklis, shot by Rainer Klausmann. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Habib Shadah. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Tova Ascher shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Hiam Abbass and Tarik Kopty and Ali Suliman carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt1172963 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 14 themes, including "palestine", "court case", "widow", "minister".

The technical file

Cinematography: Rainer Klausmann
Original score: Habib Shadah
Editing: Tova Ascher
Runtime: 106 min · 1h 46m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $7,199,534
Original language: HE
IMDB: Lemon Tree (2008)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 74/100
IMDB rating: 7.3/10 · 6,927 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

8 wins & 13 nominations

Also by

Eran Riklis

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2025-11-06
★ 7/10
Lemon Tree: The Fork in the Road We Didn't Take "Lemon Tree" must be understood in its 2008 context, when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict existed at a different temperature than today. Both sides were slightly more tentative, and the possibility of human connection across the divide felt less remote. Viewed now, the film plays as a fork in the road, a moment when empathy might have prevailed over the machinery of occupation. That it didn't, makes "Lemon Tree" both hopeful and heartbreaking. Director Eran Riklis takes a measured approach, perhaps too measured. The screenplay could have been bolder, pushing either Salma or the Defense Minister's wife to reach out more courageously across the wall that separates them. Still, what restraint costs in dramatic impact, it gains in quiet dignity. And Hiam Abbass delivers a phenomenal performance as Salma, her face a canvas of suppressed grief, defiance, and exhausted resilience. The film's true power lies in its symbolic ending. Both the Defense Minister and Salma stand looking at "the Wall", a literal and metaphorical barrier that imprisons them both. One is trapped by power and paranoia, the other by powerlessness and occupation, but both are trapped nonetheless. The message resonates with prophetic clarity: If we do not have the courage to love even those whom we are told to hate, then we are imprisoned in hell, both here and hereafter. "Lemon Tree" is a gentle film about an ungentle reality, a reminder that the path not taken haunts us as much as the one we chose.

Production companies